Talking About Trees review – delightful portrait of Sudanese filmmakers

Following the travails of four dissident survivors of Sudan’s brutal 1989 military coup, Talking About Trees takes its title from an old saying that basically translates as: “During times of great strife, one can’t focus on the small things (e.g. talking about trees).” Yet Suhaib Gasmelbari’s documentary is delightfully disrespectful of its titular rule, covering the turbulent recent history of Sudan through the lens of open-air cinemas and long-standing male friendships. It’s a joyful watch, one of the funnier and more charming documentaries in recent memory, though tinged with sadness and fury.

The focus is on Ibrahim Shadad, Manar Al Hilo, Suleiman Mohamed Ibrahim, and Altayeb Mahdi,  Sudanese filmmakers who have been forced into retirement by their country’s leaders. Though their studies and careers previously took them all over the world, making movies in Germany, Russia, and Egypt, there is no longer an opportunity for them to produce new work. It’s a situation they would naturally like to improve, so they’ve set up the Sudanese Film Group to try and affect real cultural change, though a repressive government agenda is proving to be an enormous obstacle.

Rather wonderfully, this group lives together, and across the film’s brisk, 90 minute runtime we get to know the ins and outs of all of their personalities and relationships. They’re an incredibly funny and rambunctious bunch,  and can be found frequently recreating scenes from their favourite American movies, slyly mocking the authorities, and generally palling around. As well as being filmmakers, they’re confident in front of the camera and exude a warm and natural charisma, from Manar’s general jokiness to Altayeb’s hilarious deadpan stoicism. As you become deeply invested in their mission to re-open the local cinema, fittingly named “The Revolution,” the experience winds up feeling like hanging with old friends.

The group are well-aware that their quest may not have a happy ending, and the Kafkaesque hell of endless bureaucracy faced by their legal representative/general manager, Hana, shows just how difficult the task ahead is going to be. It’s their good humour and public popularity that gives them a fighting chance, though, proven here as they receive a heartwarming surge of support from the local football club, boys and young men longing for the communal cinematic experience that western audiences take for granted. These supporters even help to choose the cinema’s opening night film: Quentin Tarantino’s Django Unchained.

Talking About Trees offers a vital look into a Sudanese society rarely seen beyond the grim headlines, giving us great insight into the everyday joys and struggles of the country’s regular people. Though there is some stock footage of marching soldiers, Talking About Trees refrains from showing violence on screen – even a discussion of the hideous interrogation that Ibrahim faced during the coup is peppered with jokes and witty asides. Instead, the history lessons found here are in classic Sudanese cinema, sometimes clunky, sometimes stunning, and always striking and interesting enough to make you mourn its passing.

In an early interview, Ibrahim makes it clear that Sudanese cinema did not merely die, but was murdered, and that it will take a hero to help it rise again. Whether or not he and his friends are those heroes remains to be seen, but this infectiously jolly and inspiring film feels like a good place to start.